Chapter 188: Shen Yan Confronts Ye Shi’er

The moment the red door shuddered, Shen Yan felt a buzz in his head.

His phone screen went black, and a line of blood-red text popped up: 【Permission hijacking in progress… System takeover remaining time: two minutes fifty-nine seconds】

His fingers twitched, nearly flinging the phone away.

This thing was his livelihood—his Source Code Spiritual Root depended entirely on it to run. If someone took remote control, at best he’d suffer Qi Deviation; at worst, he’d turn into a human-shaped walking program collapse on the spot.

He didn’t dare hesitate. Immediately, he silently recited the command in his mind, initiating the preset firewall program, “Guardian One.” A virtual barrier shot up, shoving the main process into the isolation zone. The countdown on the screen froze for a second, then kept ticking—but slower.

Enough. He only needed three seconds.

He looked up. The pool water churned, and a dark shadow burst from the surface.

The figure wore a bronze mask over half his face, a scythe in his hand. The blade glowed a dark, bloody red, as if just pulled from a pool of gore.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted.

Ye Shi’er.

The other man landed without a word. With a sweep of his scythe, a crimson data chain shot straight for Shen Yan’s forehead.

He rolled aside on instinct. The chain grazed his ear and struck where he’d just stood. The ground split open instantly, revealing dense, chaotic patterns of garbled code.

Not a physical attack—a code attack.

Aimed directly at the Consciousness Sea.

Gritting his teeth, Shen Yan hastily compiled a dynamic verification function in his mind, using his own heartbeat as the key to cyclically validate every incoming data stream. The invasive code slammed into the verification mechanism, jammed on the spot, and partially collapsed.

“Warning: Abnormal mental fluctuation detected.” The system notification tone sounded. “Close emotion module?”

He gave a cold laugh. “Close it. Close it now. I’m not in a romance right now—where would all these emotions even come from?”

As soon as he spoke, Ye Shi’er’s second strike came.

This time, the scythe traced an arc, and countless tiny code fragments drifted into the air, swirling around him like snowflakes.

Staring at those fragments, Shen Yan suddenly spotted a pattern.

Before each attack, the opponent’s scythe would first generate a segment of bootstrap code—like some kind of handshake protocol. Just like having to send a request header before calling an API.

His eye twitched.

Wasn’t this a vulnerability?

He swiftly constructed a decoy program in his mind, disguised as a “Heavenly Dao Rules Modifier,” with permissions maxed out and an interface made to look deceptively real—he even added a progress bar to make it seem especially authentic.

Then he deliberately slowed his defensive rhythm, exposing a flaw.

Ye Shi’er took the bait.

The scythe vibrated, and a data chain shot toward the decoy program, attempting to escalate privileges and gain access.

This was exactly what Shen Yan had been waiting for.

The trap triggered.

A reverse injection of an “infinite recursion command.”

You wanted in? Now that you’re in, don’t even think about getting out.

That string of code began frantically calling itself, instantly consuming all bandwidth. Ye Shi’er’s attack program jammed on the spot, his scythe freezing mid-air.

Seizing the chance, Shen Yan retreated five steps and caught his breath.

“System restart. Load basic defense core,” he murmured.

The phone screen lit up again, a black background with green text interface flashing: 【Defense mode ready】

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when the man across from him laughed.

A low voice, as if echoing from inside an iron barrel: “Not bad. You can even set a counter-trap.”

As he spoke, Ye Shi’er raised a hand and removed the left half of his mask.

Shen Yan froze.

There, on the right side of his brow bone, was a faint golden mark. Its position and shape were exactly the same as the birthmark that had repeatedly appeared in his childhood dreams.

His heart sank heavily.

This was no coincidence.

Suppressing the frantic beating of his heart, he silently input a command in his mind: “Deactivate emotion monitoring, block anomaly feedback.”

He couldn’t let the System misjudge him as a user anomaly. Otherwise, if it locked him down directly, he would truly become a lamb waiting for slaughter.

He held his phone horizontally in front of his chest, quietly activating “Environmental Code Scan,” aiming the camera at Ye Shi’er’s entire body.

A few seconds later, the analysis results popped up.

The underlying architecture of the code language the other party was using was actually of the same origin as the Source Code Spiritual Root within him, resembling some early branch version.

Shen Yan stared at the Data Stream, his voice turning cold. “You’re not from Shadow Erosion.”

Ye Shi’er didn’t answer, just looked at him, his gaze as if beholding a long-lost, familiar object.

“You came for me.”

“Not for you.” Ye Shi’er finally spoke, his voice still mechanically steady. “I came to find ‘me.'”

Shen Yan frowned.

What did that mean?

He wanted to ask more, but the other suddenly moved.

The Scythe raised high, countless fragments of Code materialized in the air, arranging themselves into a ring that slowly rotated, like some kind of loading animation before a program initiated.

Shen Yan immediately entered a state of alert, green light flickering at his fingertips as his phone Interface switched to combat mode.

【Fireball Spell.exe】 call failed, path tampered with.

【Sword Flight Script】 loading interrupted, Notice: “File has been encrypted.”

His heart tightened.

This guy could not only attack but also seal!

He quickly terminated all non-essential programs, retaining only perception and Defense Modules, entering low-power mode.

Save some Mental Power, or he wouldn’t last three minutes.

Ye Shi’er stepped closer, the Scythe dragging on the ground, producing a grating sound.

“Do you know why you were able to awaken the Source Code Spiritual Root?” he suddenly asked.

Shen Yan didn’t answer.

“Because you were originally a part of it.” Ye Shi’er said. “And I am the half that was cut off.”

Shen Yan’s breath hitched.

Cut off?

Before he could process it, the other suddenly raised his hand, the Scythe slashing down.

A crimson Data Torrent surged toward him, more ferocious than any previous attack.

Shen Yan’s hands slid rapidly across the phone screen, urgently summoning three layers of Firewall to stack.

Boom!

The shockwave exploded, sending his entire body flying backward. His back slammed against the rock wall, a sweet taste rising in his throat, nearly making him spit it out.

He clutched his phone tightly. A crack appeared on the Screen, but it was still running.

【Warning: Mental Power consumption overloaded. Recommend immediate termination of confrontation.】

He wiped the corner of his mouth and sneered. “Recommendation received, but I’m not listening.”

Propping himself up against the wall, he stood and typed a string of Commands on the screen.

“Since you are the ‘other half’… let’s test who the main program really is.”

He initiated a hidden function—”Variable Override Protocol.”

He had written this last night while staying up late. It hadn’t been tested yet, belonging to the typical “this line of Code should run” level.

The principle was simple: forcibly define himself as the sole Host of the Source Code Spiritual Root, judging all externally accessed code of the same origin as illegal copies and automatically purging them.

The risk was also great. If it went wrong, he might Blue Screen first.

But he had no choice now.

The moment his finger pressed the confirm key, the Spiritual Root within him violently trembled, as if the System was re-verifying his identity.

Ye Shi’er’s expression shifted slightly, the Data Stream on his scythe briefly disrupted.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Yan countered with a purification Code.

A green data chain lashed out like a whip, striking the other squarely in the chest.

Ye Shi’er grunted, taking half a step back.

It worked!

Shen Yan’s lips curved upward.

So this thing really could be used.

Just as he was about to press the attack, he suddenly sensed something wrong.

The Source Code Spiritual Root within him began to heat up, his Mental Power plummeting like water rushing through an open floodgate.

Damn.

The Bug was here.

He looked down to see his phone screen flickering, a Notice popping up: 【Error: Variable conflict, Main Process cannot be locked】

So Ye Shi’er was doing the same thing—he was also trying to define himself as the sole Host.

Their Programs shared the same origin, their Permissions were equal, and the System had fallen into an Infinite Loop.

Shen Yan’s head throbbed, his vision darkened, and his knees buckled, nearly sending him to the ground.

He bit the Tip of his Tongue, using the pain to stay conscious.

This wasn’t a battle of skill anymore—it was a battle of will.

He stared intently at his phone, typing in word by word: 【Forced Declaration: Host Unique Identifier—Shen Yan. Place of Birth: Qingzhou Orphanage. Awakening Time: 11:23 PM on the night of the car accident. Bound Device: Huawei Mate40Pro.】

These were details only he knew.

The System recognized the private Variables and began recalibrating.

Ye Shi’er’s expression changed.

He abruptly raised his scythe and charged again.

Shen Yan had no time to dodge—he could only brace himself.

He held his phone in front of him and shouted, “Finish loading!”

The final line of Code executed.

【Identity authentication successful. Host: Shen Yan. Permission Level: Highest.】

Green light erupted from within him.

Ye Shi’er’s attack collided with the light barrier and instantly disintegrated.

He stood in place, his scythe lowered, but the corner of his mouth beneath the mask slowly curved upward.

“Brother,” he said softly, “you won this round.”

Shen Yan gasped for breath, glaring coldly at him. “Who’s your brother?”

Ye Shi’er didn’t answer, only raised a hand and pointed toward the red door at the bottom of the pool.

“What’s behind that door—you’ll have to face it sooner or later.”

Before his words faded, the scythe suddenly flew from his hand, shooting straight toward Shen Yan’s face!

(End of Chapter)